Branding is a very important aspect of managing a business. Good products and services aren’t enough to gain the competitive edge in the market – you need to tell people to get them in. You also need to add value to your business and what better way than doing it with business promotional products. Businesses around the world have fallen back on this tried and tested method to connect with their customers and build a long term partnership. A gift can go a long way in turning a onetime customer into a loyal repeat customer.

Promotional products are, in reality, one of cheapest forms of marketing around as they help you reach out to your customers time and time again. When it comes to choosing these products the idea is to offer some promotional items to your customers which has maximum visibility. It also depend what type of business you have, as to what type of product you should be providing. If you are a bank you might give out money boxes, USB’s for graphic design and marketing companies and if you in the health and fitness industry, water bottles. Pens are always a safe bet for any B2B relationships.

You can also contact a printing and marketing company about maximising your campaign, whether you need a promotional page for your website or a mail out to your customers with your letterhead in a branded envelope to maximise your conversion rate, a printing and marketing company will be able to find a solution.

Here are some business promotional products which can add value to your business.

• Key Chains – Key Chains are one of the most popular promotional products which businesses have used over the years. A key chain is an object of daily use which makes it stay with the customers for many years and serves as a great promotional tool. You can choose from an array of materials such as plastic, metal and wooden key chains where you can have your brand name, logo and contact details printed or embossed by a professional printing services provider.

• Promotional Pens – Along with the key chains it is perhaps one of the oldest promotional products that businesses have opted for. Today you will get to choose from a wide variety of pens based on their shapes, functionality and colours for your business. Try opting for bright coloured pens as they tend to catch maximum attention.

• Caps – This is another promotional product which has gained immense popularity in recent years. Whenever there is a large-scale event such as a sports event or a rally, you can distribute your caps among the participants which will promote your business. There are different varieties of caps which can be printed upon. This is one of the most cost effective ways of promoting a brand.

• Mouse Pads – With the advent of the technology revolution laptops and desktops have become a part of every household and thus offering customised mouse pads serves as a good promotional exercise. Create some stunning advertisements and get them printed on the mouse pads which can be distributed among your customers as these will promote your business every day.

• USB Flash Drives – USB Flash drives are another must have products in this e-age. You can have your company’s name and logo printed on these USB Flash drives and have their distributed among your customers. Among all the above items this is surely the most expensive one and can be reserved for your premium customers, with maximum effect.

All these business promotional products serve the purpose of branding a business. All that you need to do is hire the services of a good printing services company which has expertise in offering these promotional products.

A marketing plan enables you to draw an outline of the techniques to be employed in order to achieve the goals of your online business. Without a plan, the business will have no direction.

So why is it necessary to develop a marketing strategy?

To have a roadmap: The plan is a guide to realizing both your short-term and long-term visions for your business. You will be able to develop the right techniques for reaching out to your target market. The plan gives your business a sense of direction.

For branding: The marketing plan helps you in planning out the best methods of building the brand of your business. If for example your target market is college students, then the plan should be focused on branding your business as an entity for college students.

Cost-effectiveness: Developing a strategic plan for managing the resources of your online business can significantly reduce the operating costs. The plan makes the activities of your business more organized and efficient. You will be able to reap more for less.

Stability: The plan makes you business more stable in an unpredictable marketing environment. The online business environment is dynamic and new trends in marketing emerge every day. A well developed plan enables you to integrate the new trends and take advantage of them. You will be able to avoid reactionary marketing strategies which are usually ineffective in face of stiff competition.

Most online start-ups fail within the first year of their operation due to failure to create an effective marketing strategy. A great plan can enable a small start-up to be on the same level with already established online businesses.

Let’s take it a step further and discuss the essentials in developing a reliable marketing plan:

Determine your target market: You should identify your target market. Conduct a market research for establishing the right customers for the product or services offered by your online business. This will enable you to determine the best way to reach out to potential clients.

Branding: You should be consistent in creating brand recognition for your business. Marketing online should be centered on creating a unique business personality that can resonate to potential customers. All marketing efforts should be focused on creating a recognizable identity for your online business.

Goals and objectives: Set short-term and long-term goals for promoting your online business. The marketing plan should be drawn from the goals of your business. Goals also help in defining the budgetary allocation to your marketing campaign.

Budget: Work out the budget for your business. Map out your monthly and annual budgetary needs. Determine the costs of running a marketing campaign which should be in line with both your short-term and long-term goals.

And, don’t forget about the 4 P’s of Marketing: Product, Place, Price and Promotion — the graphic below has key

It is important that you satisfy all of these when creating a marketing strategy.

Embracing a good marketing strategy guarantees you of a ready market for your products and services. It also makes your enterprise successful and on a competitive edge by addressing the market forces of demand and supply. Once you have formulated the perfect marketing strategy and have the right product being offered at the best price, at the most convenient location and using the best promotional tactics, you get an edge over your competitors. All you need to stay at the top is adapt to the changing environment.

Creating a marketing strategy can take about an hour to do — and it can be the BEST hour you’ve spent on your business yet! Get in there, set your goals, create a marketing plan and stick to it!

With the New Year literally less than 24 hours away, have you put together your goals for the 2013 business year? A business idea will forever remain a dream unless you set achievable goals. The inherent value of goal setting is the driving force behind the growth of a business towards the right direction.

Here are 7 tips to setting and achieving business goals efficiently:

Always set realistic goals. However big your dream may be, it is important to break it down in to achievable goals. This is especially true if you are setting financial goals. Setting a financial goal of $2000 per month, when you are only at a capacity to achieve $1000 will not help you complete that goal. If after achieving your first target, raise your goal a bit and work towards it. Setting unrealistic goals will only serve to make your dreams more difficult to realize.

Write down a detailed plan. If you have a well laid out plan, then there is nothing that can prevent you from achieving your business goals. Creating a plan involves your mind in breaking down a big problem in to achievable feats. This means that a proper plan translates to an almost complete task. Creating a quarterly goal calendar is best. You’ll have an outlook of your current goals and those to come. A proper plans allow your mind to visualize on the actual task hence it is possible to develop easier ways of achieving a specific goal.

Be flexible. Sometimes it becomes impossible to meet our previously set business goals before their deadline. In such a situation, extend the deadline a bit. Now you know that you’ll need to allocate more time for future goals. This is a better idea or a new method of accomplishing that goal rather then not completing it. However restrain from extending the duration every now and then since it might be an act of procrastination that will result in unaccomplished goals in the long run.

Reward yourself for every goal you achieve. Okay, so rewarding yourself for EVERY goal may get a little expensive… thankfully, you can deduct your office expenses! Setting a reward after accomplishing a business goal is the best form of motivation. Has there been a software or new desk chair you’ve been wanting? Or the new top of the line printer or phone? This act not only helps you to achieve a goal on time but also to find a strategic way to achieve within a short time.

Be positive. Taking your business goals positively gives you the motivation to work towards meeting targets. On the other hand negativity towards a given task slows down your working pace hence you can not complete goals appropriately.

Stick to your goals. If you have settled on a business goal, it is commendable that you stick to it to the end. In each task, you may find that goals relate to each other therefore giving up one of them may make the whole process an un-achievable feat. At times, you may find that a goal may be a little tough than anticipated earlier. This is not a good enough reason to drop a it since no matter how tough a process is, it can always be achieved. Therefore it is important to stick to a specific goal unless it is more reasonable to change them

Set complimentary goals. Your list of goals should all work towards a common objective. Setting goals that hinder each other will result to incomplete business tasks. Always review your list of goals and eliminate contradictions before you start working on them.

Using the above 7 tips to setting and achieving business goals, there is absolutely no business task that can not be achieved if you stay positive, realistic and committed to your goals.